A Killer's Hope
by CreuseryAsmo
Summary: Issei Hyoudou may look like a perverted loser at school, but appearances can be decieving. Underneath that persona he was a brutal, unforgiving assassin with little to no remorse. He was loyal to no one. Did what he had to do,killed who he had to kill in order to survive. There was no one in this cruel world he cared about. But everything changed when he met a certain black cat.
1. Prologue: Before The Cat

For what was once a beautiful and luxurious mansion was now becoming a burning building filled with lost memories and the bodies of those it once harbored. The fire quickly burned down any and all family portraits that hung on the walls. The family reminded the assailant of the family he himself once had. It consisted of two parents, a five-year-old daughter, and a seven-year-old son. He walked through the halls of the burning mansion, dawned in crimson armor that matched the blood scattered around him.

While searching through the halls looking for the final surviving member, memories began to resurface as he saw the devastation he had brought upon this family. Memories that had haunted him since his childhood. The memories were so vivid that he could even hear the cries for help his own mother once yelled.

 _'DO ANYTHING TO ME JUST DON'T HURT THE CHILDREN!'_

The pain of the memories brought him to his knees. The trauma had been too much for him that even when a decade had passed he still was unable to overcome him.

'Dammit not now. I can't afford freaking out now.'

For all his efforts he couldn't reestablish himself to get his mission over with. The memories were overpowering his will and wouldn't allow him to regain control. What made his condition much worse was that he laid his eyes upon the bodies of the two children. Even if they were only unconscious, just looking at them made some memories resurface. Especially when he looked at the girl.

 _'Daddy please... don't kill me. PLEASE DA-'_

The memory of his father slicing his sisters neck was imprinted in his mind. Never was forgotten and never will be. The moments when his father dropped her body on the floor felt like an eternity for him. It was where his old self-died and where his new, ruthless self-was born. He was able to regain control of himself as he stood back up.

His head quickly jerked toward the stairwell as he heard a faint noise coming from what he assumed to be the master bedroom on the floor above him. He quickly ran toward the source and when he made it to the doorway of the master bedroom he found the last remaining member of the family. It was the head of the household, and in his arms rested his now deceased wife. When the assassin began to slowly walk toward the man more memories began to resurface. Only this time, they were his favored memories.

The boys' father laid in a pool of his own blood. His own son, now with a crimson gauntlet on his left arm, walked toward him with a knife in hand. Even as he was slowly bleeding to death he was proud knowing that he raised the boy as a killer. Willing to kill anyone without remorse nor hesitation. But still.

 _'I made you who you are now. Yet you still turned against me. Have you no loyalty.'_

The assassin summoned a blade on each gauntlet to prepare the man's execution. Once more he will have completed another assignment with no one but him to tell the tale.

"Tell me Red Dragon. Who hired you to destroy my family?" The man asked. "Was it Lord Michael? Or was it the Great Devil Kings who gave you this mission."

The Red Dragon Emperor held some pride knowing that the man knew who he was. It would be a surprise that anyone in the supernatural world didn't know who he was. He had been hired by every faction at one point or another to deal with what he called the "less fortunate" members of their society. He didn't exactly have to answer this question but seeing that the man wasn't going to survive much longer, he was willing to give him the knowledge of who had damned both him and his family.

"You'd be surprised that it wasn't either of them. No, it was your wife's family that hired me." The Red Dragon Emperor informed. "You didn't think that they would allow her to have children with an exorcist now did you, Masaomi Yaegaki. The House of Belial never would've allowed one of their own to both marry a member of the Protestant Church and have children with said exorcist and make it out alive."

"And what of my children. What is their fate?" Masaomi asked. He knew the Red Dragons reputation of leaving no survivors. All he cared about was if his two children were safe.

This had struck a chord with the Red Dragon. He felt disgusted that Masaomi would even slightly think that he would kill children. As a child survivor he himself knew that the path may not be easy, but they could gain strength to protect themselves and one another.

"I promise you that they will survive this. If you don't trust me then trust in the Dragon sealed within my sacred gear." The Red Dragon promised.

Masaomi was pleased that the children would live to see another day. His only regret would be that he would not be able to see them grow and make their own families.

The Red Dragon rested each blade on the opposite side of Masaomi's throat. He knew that the Masaomi wasn't completely satisfied with the vague answer he just gave and decided to allow him one more question before he would be reunited with his family. Masaomi took full advantage of the opportunity. He was about to ask the single most asked question in all of the supernatural world.

"Just who are you really Red Dragon?"

The Red Dragon Emperor momentarily hesitated. It was suspicious to him why Masaomi wanted to know the answer. He had no use for it in the afterlife and so couldn't spread the information. He surmised that it was for self-knowledge and to remember his name in the afterlife. Nevertheless, he promised him this final request. He deactivated the faceplate of his armor to reveal what he hid from all. He was a young, handsome man with short spiky brown hair, with two short locks of hair behind his head. His eyes matched the emerald green jewel at the center of the gauntlet.

"I am no god Masaomi Yaegaki. I come from no special line nor have I been trained by great warriors. I'm only a human who had everything stripped away from him." He didn't allow Masaomi to say anything else and quickly ended his life. But he made sure to give Masaomi something to remember. "Remember my name in the afterlife. Remember Issei Hyoudou." With that, Issei sliced his throat open which led to even more blood to paint the room crimson.

Issei retracted his two blades and reactivated the faceplate of his armor. He made his way out of the building and updated the Belial clan of the success of his mission. He checked his list of employers and the next one up was from the House of Naberius.

"Devils. They seem to always want someone dead."

 **(And they always pay more to keep it off your records.)**

"Let's see what these bastards want."

He summoned a magic circle to teleport the two Belial children to a orphanage that he himself helped create. He then created another teleporting circle to arrive to the coordinates provided by the employers. Apparently, it was too important for them to meet in a private setting and not their estate like he did with any other employer. At the end of the day, it didn't matter to him. He was likely killing someone and getting a higher pay than usual.

That's what he thought at least.


	2. Cat Problems

**Welcome to my newest fic everybody! This has been in the back of my mind for a few months and I finally decided to make it. Its a IsseixKuroka single pairing fic so I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Talking

'Thinking'

 _Flashback_

 **(Ddraig)**

* * *

Never in his life has Issei ever been annoyed. Sure there were times that some people that would push his buttons but he would just silence them one way or another. But today was a day of first for him. He not only had to go out of his way and teleport to such a remote area, but he also had to deal with talking to his client through a damn magic circle and not face to face as he always had done.

Currently he was all alone in God knows where awaiting for said magic circle to appear and they could go on with their business. He only hoped that whoever his target would be is high enough status that this secrecy was actually necessary. He had assumed it was the case because his employer made sure to keep a barrier around Issei's location so no one could find out about the deal that was about to transpire.

Before his patience was finally worn thin, a magic circle appeared on the ground before Issei and projected a hologram of his employer. He was a young, slightly handsome, man looking to be around thirty or so. He had two dark grey eyes which matched his short slicked back hair. Issei judged from his appearance that he was going to have a hard time with this specific job.

"Hello Red Dragon Emperor. My name is Zepar Naberius, third son of the House of Naberius." The man pridefully introduced. Just from his voice Issei could tell that he was arrogant. The House of Naberius was one of the lesser known clans in devil society. Hopefully this arrogance won't interfere with the negotiations. Hopefully.

"I'm in no mood for formalities. Why did I have to meet you here of all places?" Issei asked, still annoyed about the choice of location.

Zepar slightly flinched. "You see your mission is to be as secretive as possible. No one is to know of my involvement. Not even my clan." Zepar explained.

Issei cocked an eyebrow. A majority of the time his employers would be a group of people who want someone dead. Even if it was a single devil paying for his services, they would need the approval from the head of their clan. It was highly suspicious for Zepar to be acting alone in this scenario.

"Why exactly must no one know?" Issei questioned.

A second magic circle appeared to the right of the hologram and projected a newspaper from three years ago. "A member of a branch family of my house was brutally murdered by one of his servants." Another magic circle appeared to the left of the hologram and projected an image of his target. Issei immediately noticed that she was a Nekomata, more specifically a Nekoshou. "He was conducting some light research on her and helped improve her proficiency with using Senjutsu. Then one day she got too consumed by her power and went absolutely mad. She murdered him in cold blood and went into hiding ever since."

As convincing as the story was Issei found a problem with it. It being that branch families weren't that important. All that was important to the devil faction were pureblooded children and the pillar families. Issei was no idiot. Being a part of this business meant he had to look deeper. It would be more likely that Zepar was covering something up. Nevertheless, he'll continue with the job, just to see where it goes.

"I'm surprised that the Satans haven't done anything about her then." Issei commented.

"All they've done was put her on the most wanted list and classify her as a SS-Class Stray Devil. They along side the current head of my house refuse to allow me to do something about it." Zepar explained. What he didn't realize was that he gave Issei some important information for future reference. Not even his clan allowed him to do anything about this situation, further backing up the idea he's trying to cover up something and getting rid of loose ends. "She was last seen in Kyoto, using her Senjutsu to combat against anyone trying to arrest her. Your mission is to find her and bring her to here where I will personally get rid of her."

Kyoto had been a place that Issei had visited numerous times. It was always filled with a variety of youkai and members of other factions such as devils and fallen angels. Therein lies his problem. With such a high population density it would be easy for someone to hide amongst the crowd. He himself has done it before and knows how difficult it is to spot a specific person in a sea of people. Even with this in mind he will find her eventually. One way or another.

"Now as for my payment."

* * *

[Kyoto]

One of the many promises Issei gives to his clients is that he'll have the job done by the end of the day. It was to further legitimize himself and charge more for his services. On missions such as his hunt for Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki it was much too easy. But in the search for the Nekomata Kuroka, it would take some more time. Luckily for him, each of the five jewels of his scale-mail armor were able to detach with a chunk of his armor to create wyverns that he could control. He stood at the top of the highest building in Kyoto and released four of the wyverns to search for Kuroka while the fifth remained as his Boosted Gear. Interestingly enough he decided to do his recon while in his Kuoh Academy uniform. To him wearing cloaks gave the opposite result than intended. If one were to wear a cloak then they obviously have something to hide which would draw unneeded attention. Meanwhile, casual wear makes one appear to be ordinary.

 **(I hope you realize that the devil can't be trusted Issei. There's something shady about him.)**

"I hope you realize that every person that wants someone dead can't be trusted and is shady." Issei retorted, trying to remind the dragon what type of people hired him.

 **(Yes but there's something off about his story. I know that you know he's not telling us crucial information)**

"I know this Ddraig, but as long as I get paid for this I can't seem to care." Issei spoke his truth. Through all his years of being a paid assassin he never bothered to think about his targets. All they were to him was another paycheck that finance both his and the lives of the children he's taken everything from. Of course there were some things that could make him rethink killing a target. But that has never happened to him yet. "But still. I'll give him one strike at the very least."

 **(To see your innocence taken away from you at such a tender age is disappointing.I could only imagine what type of person you could've become if you hadn't been subjected to such trauma. Perhaps you could've become the pervert you pretend to be at school)** Ddraig hypothesized, joking at the thought of Issei as a pervert.

"My innocent side has been long dead Ddraig. I'll never be like that again."

 **(Never say never Issei)**

With an hour slowly passing Issei's patience slowly began to wear thin. He severely under estimated a criminals ability to hide in plain sight. He was about to descend back to the ground and search for her himself. Thankfully for him however, one of the wyverns listened in on a conversation between two female youkai. A majority of it didn't matter but what did matter was that they had an altercation with a female Nekomata who had just went outside the city. Issei sent the four wyverns ahead to scout the area while he made his way toward them and prepared for the inevitable fight.

Issei arrived to the old abandoned mansion that the wyverns located her in and began to prepare the surrounding terrain. He used his signature Dragon Shot and boosted it a couple dozen of times. He divided his Dragon Shot into twenty spheres and hid them within the trees. Now even if the cat were to somehow out run him, he could activate the Dragon Shots in the forest. Only getting hit by two of them would incapacitate her.

When he decided that the Dragon Shots would be all the assistance he needed, he he ran back toward her hideout, not noticing that he dropped his wallet, and commanded the wyverns back to him and reformed his armor. He used his wings to ascend above the building and wondered how he should initiate the hunt. He could just waltz right in and fight her outright but he just did that in the hunt of the exorcist and devil so that was out. Perhaps he could force her out of the mansion so he could chase her down.

He went with that idea and summoned another Dragon Shot and aimed it upwards. When he finally shot it, he split it into multiple beams and directed them toward the mansion. They all landed one after another, destroying the section of the mansion they landed in, until all that was left was rubble. What surprised him was that there was no sign of anyone inside. He descended to the rubble and when he didn't expect it, he got sucker punched and when he regained composure he fired another Dragon Shot toward his assailant and jumped back to have some distance between them. When he saw who had attacked him he was glad to see he finally found his target.

"SS-Class Stray Devil Kuroka; you're coming with me." Issei said threateningly.

Kuroka hadn't seemed phased at all by his tone. She had gotten away from trouble like this before; she could do it again. "Quite forward now aren't we. Usually you'd take a girl out for dinner before taking her to your place nya." She replied seductively. She noticed how he remained in serious even as she was acting casual. She had to take one more look at him before she finally realized who he was. "You're...the Red... Red Dragon Emperor."

Issei noticed Kuroka's trembling voice at her realization of how screwed she was. "Good. You already know your fate."

"I assume you're here under the employ of the House of Naberius?" Kuroka asked, already knowing the answer.

"It was unwise to kill your own master. You should've been a good servant and know your place." Issei replied.

"Know my place? My master had no right to put me through any of those experiments! It was borderline torture! I did what I had to do."

'Borderline torture?' Issei thought. His assumption of Zepar trying to cover something up. All he said was that her master was doing some light research. This prompted further questioning. "What exactly did he do to you?" he questioned.

"Oh he only tried to recreate the effects of a king piece, which on its own is already illegal. He made us go into intense "training" which consisted of us fighting each other until one was almost dead. He would even starve us for weeks and offer food to the winner as some sort of motivation to almost kill our opponent." Issei could hear the pure anger within Kuroka's voice. It almost reminded him of himself when he would think back to his childhood. "He even used some illegal drugs to make us stronger. Some of the servants died because they couldn't handle it and were thrown away and replaced in a matter of days!"

'Strike two.' Issei thought. He understood Kuroka's anger. If he were in her situation he would have done the exact same thing. The only difference being; he was strong enough to play judge, jury and executioner then get away with it.

He rushed Kuroka and grabbed her by the head, flying high into the sky and flew back down at top speed to slam her back into the ground. Before Kuroka was able to process what happened in that split second, Issei punched her in the gut, sending her flying into the woods.

After Kuroka crashed into a couple of trees she was finally able to get ahold of herself and tried to fight back. Tried. She leapt from one tree to another, making her way toward Issei. Issei saw this and noticed that she was getting close to the Dragon Shots he had hid within the trees earlier. When she was finally within range, he activated them with only one hitting her but seeing that she was already decently hurt by his previous attacks she rag dolled onto the ground, unable to stand up.

 **(You didn't even allow her to fight back. How cold of you. )**

Issei ignored Ddraig and slowly walked towards the downed Kuroka. He had to admit that he was slightly looking forward to a longer fight. She is a SS-Class Stray after all so he expected her to put up more of a fight. Disappointing. As he drew closer to her he could hear her moaning and groaning in pain. Perhaps he did go to hard on her. No matter, as long as she was alive he was still getting paid.

"You could've just run away. If you didn't kill your master there's a slight chance that I wouldn't have had to turn hunt you today." Issei commented.

Kuroka scoffed. "I would've never allowed a man like that to survive. I had to kill him. I did it for Shirone."

"Oh? And who's Shirone?" Issei asked. He was intrigued that she would do anything for anyone. He had thought that she would be like any other criminal he had ever met. Selfish.

"Shirone is the only person I care about in this world. For she is my sister."

Sister. Issei froze at the word. He finally understood why Kuroka had done what she did. Because she hadn't killed her master earlier, he would assume that her sister hadn't been taking part of the ruthless experiments conducted on the other servants. If she wanted to she could've killed him any time she wanted. That led him to believe that her sister was about to take part of the experiments. Which meant that she killed her master to spare Shirone the fate of being subjected to the experiments. He would've done the same. Scratch that. He did do the same.

"If you're going to kill me then do it already." Kuroka requested, her head facing the ground and awaiting what she perceived to be her inevitable fate. When she noticed that the Red Dragon said nothing she looked back up and saw nothing. He had left her. She didn't question why he did so and made her way back to her hideout. That's when she remembered that it was in ruins. Perfect. Now to find a new place to stay. She looked around and saw a brown object sitting in the grass. Her curiosity piqued, she made her way to it and noticed that it was a wallet. She opened it up and found a minimal amount of money in it and a school ID. Kuoh Academy. Not that far from where she was.

"Issei Hyoudou."

* * *

[Scene break]

Issei returned to the coordinates that Zepar had given him and made sure to tell him to meet him there. He had assumed that this time he was actually going to be there. If that weren't the case then things were going to get messier than he would've liked. He arrived to see that once again Zepar wasn't there. Thankfully for him, it didn't take long for him to finally arrive. And in person.

"I thank you Red Dragon Emperor for taking car-" Zepar stopped mid sentence when he noticed that Issei was alone with no Kuroka in sight. "Where is she?" His tone now harsher.

"You lied to me. Her master was crueler than you portrayed him to be." Issei replied.

"Wether I lied or not is irrelevant. I paid you to bring her to me!" Zepar exclaimed, now angered that the Red Dragon Emperor hadn't done what he was paid to do. Issei said nothing and turned his back toward the devil. This in itself pushed Zepar to the breaking point. A lowly dragon dared turn his back on him, a high class devil! He had never been so insulted in his life! "Listen here you pest. I paid you to do my bidding! If you dare to defy me you'll regre-" Zepar stopped when he saw that Issei had faced his gauntlet toward him with a Dragon Shot at the ready.

"Strike three, you're out."

* * *

[Next day Kuoh Academy]

"C'mon Issei, Motohama and I found the perfect titty-hole that we can all share!" Exclaimed his "friend" Matsuda.

"With this one we can finally peep on Murayama and Katase." Whispered Motohama.

"Listen guys I'm still bruised from the last time I got caught by them. I'll join you next time." Issei sheepishly apologized. He walked back toward his apartment before the two could attempt to convince him otherwise. He honestly wondered if there were any way to get rid of those two without arousing suspicion. But then he realized how bad he needed them. Not because he needed someone to hangout with, he would much rather be alone, but because he needed to keep this persona of being a perverted loser. This was his only way to hide in plain sight. Because who would suspect a pervert to be the infamous Red Dragon Emperor.

When he arrived to his apartment building he sensed someone within his apartment. He wasn't expecting anyone to meet him today so he had to be cautious. He summoned his Boosted Gear and ran inside the apartment. No one was in the living-room. That's when he noticed that sound was coming from his entertainment room, likely originating from his TV. When he entered the room and saw who was lazily sitting on his couch, he activated his Balance Breaker armor.

"Y'know, for an infamous killer your apartment is really small nya." Kuroka said casually.

"How do you know where I live?" Issei asked demandingly.

Kuroka said nothing but rather flashed his student ID. "You'd be surprised what you can find out after searching someones name on the internet nya."

"Yeah I wonder what I can find out about you." He replied sarcastically while dematerializing his armor. "Now get out."

"I would. But I don't want to nya. You owe me." Kuroka said.

Issei cocked his eyebrow. He had to admit that she had guts to come in to his home and say that he owes him but it was getting out of line. "I owe you nothing."

Kuroka stood from the couch and stood right in-front of Issei. "You basically beat the shit out me for no reason and destroyed my hideout. You're going to take responsibility and let me stay here."

Issei summoned his gauntlet and placed it on her chest, charging a Dragon Shot. "And what stops me from killing you right now?"

Kuroka smirked. "I already introduced myself to your neighbors and told them I'd be staying with you. Wouldn't it be hard for you to explain why I suddenly disappeared?"

Kuroka had him trapped. For whatever reason his neighbors were always up in his business. If she were to disappear then they'd be looking too deep into it and he wouldn't feel like making a complicated story to cover it up. What worse was that even if he did kick her out she knew who he was. He had done a lot of jobs being the Red Dragon Emperor and made a lot of enemies. There was nothing he could do. But.

"Make yourself at home."

* * *

 **Discord .gg/ pCYkPRB (remove the spaces)**


	3. Battle Scars

**Shoutout to MaJik7 for beta reading. JOIN THE SERVER Discord .gg/ pCYkPRB (remove the spaces)**

* * *

"Talking

'Thinking'

 _Flashback_

 **(Ddraig)**

* * *

The Red Dragon Emperor was one of the most feared beings in the supernatural world. He held no loyalties to anyone and did as he pleased. No one knew what he did when he wasn't on one of his assignments; everyone just assumed the worst and believed that all he did on his free time was plan future assassinations. Kuroka was the only person in the world to witness first hand what this legendary assassin did when he wasn't doing his job; and she was thoroughly disappointed.

The wanted cat was currently laying on a sofa, legs dangling off the armrest, perpendicular to the one Issei was seated in. Issei was silently watching some tv. The show he was watching was too dark for her personal taste. A show about some dude in a hood with a bow and arrow with a crew of other vigilantes wasn't her cup of tea. She tried to follow along the story but it never really caught her attention. Though apparently it was Issei's as he failed to peel his eyes away from the tv. Hell, she could probably be naked begging for sex and he wouldn't look away. Or would he? She'll have to test her theory some time.

"This is how the infamous Red Dragon Emperor spends his time? I'm disappointed." Kuroka commented, thinking that living with the Red Dragon Emperor would be much more entertaining. Issei ignored Kuroka's comments and continued to watch his show. For some reason or another Kuroka got the urge to press on. She was bored so maybe this'll bring her some fun. "I always thought that a big bad dragon like you would take this time to relax." She got up from her sofa and moved next to Issei, who was still devoting his undying attention to his show. She moved closer to his ear and whispered seductively. "You seem like the type who needs a woman's touch to relax." She proceeded to lick his earlobe but not before whispering into his ear once more. "Maybe if you're lucky, you can receive my touch."

Kuroka was about to bring her tails to rub against his face but when they got close to his cheeks Issei grabbed them and pulled on them, effectively incapacitating Kuroka and making her feel hot all over. "I know what you're doing. Stop it before I knock you out and leave you on the floor."

When he let go of her tails, her heat lingered for a few moments until she was able to regain her composure. She was still breathing a bit heavier than usual, but for the most part she was fine. Never in her life did, she expect someone to be unfazed by her advances. She always, without fail, had men wrapped around her fingers, willing to do anything she pleased with the right motivations. They were always a means to an end. In her eyes, no one deserved her.

After consecutive years perfecting the art of seduction, Issei Hyoudou was the only one to successfully resist her. Perhaps she needed to step up her game. Maybe living with him would be more fun after all.

While the hours passed Kuroka observed Issei while he watched his show. She slowly began to realize that he wasn't as boring as she first thought. She remembered that even if he was in the business of killing people for money, he was still a teenager in high school. Just more violent and less talkative. Though she was curious of why he went into that specific line of work. Out of everything he could've chosen, he chose to be a feared killer.

"So what's your deal Issei?" Kuroka asked. "Why choose to be a killer of all things? Guys your age usually work at a grocery store."

For the first time since he started watching his show, Issei turned away from the tv and looked straight at Kuroka. For a moment she believed that she was quickly going to regret asking her question. But to her surprise, he actually answered. "It's the only life I've known. I was trained to be a killer as a kid, so it just stuck with me. The good thing is that there's always someone that wants someone else dead."

It was shocking that Issei had given her an answer to a personal question. As cryptic as it may be, it was still an answer. Perhaps one day she could get a more in depth answer, but for now she would have to make due with what she got. Not trying to push her luck, she allowed him to resume his show without her annoying him.

Some more time passed and Kuroka's stomach began to growl. Issei ignored the first three roars, but by the fourth he had enough of it. He got up from the couch and motioned Kuroka to follow. The duo went into the kitchen where Kuroka sat on one of the stools by the counter and Issei opened the fridge in search of some lunch.

"You got a preference?" Issei asked.

Kuroka hummed. "As long as it doesn't have poison I don't mind nya." She joked.

He ignored the joke and went on to search for some food. Thankfully, he had some leftover tempura. He grabbed a few pieces and heated it up, serving half of them to Kuroka while he ate the other half. She was hesitant for a moment before succumbing to her hunger and took a bite of one. Because Issei seemed like the type of guy who was only skilled in combat, she assumed that his homemade tempura was going to be horrid. But to her surprise it wasn't half bad. By no means was it anything to write home about; but for a killer, it was pretty good.

"I'm surprised someone like you can cook nya. I would have thought you were the fast food type of guy." Kuroka commented.

"When you've been alone for as long as I have, you learn a thing or two." Issei replied. "I honestly doubt you had to do much for yourself."

Kuroka could have retorted, but in all honesty he was right. She always used her looks to lure people in, then steal money to buy food. She doubted that she had ever attempted to make herself a meal. She was always a lazy cat.

"You hurt my feelings Ise nya. It's not my fault that I was gifted with my looks nya."

"Did you just call me Ise?" He questioned.

Kuroka put her elbow on the countertop with her head in her palms. "Since I'm going to be here for a while, might as well give you a little nickname nya." She saw him roll his eyes and proceeded to pout. "Looks like neither of the Heavenly Dragons appreciate my nicknames."

Issei cocked an eyebrow, confused by her statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"You see, a few days ago I was approached by your rival, the White Dragon Emperor. We were walking through Kyoto and I noticed that he stared at the rear end of a few females walking by; and thus I began to call him the Butt Dragon Emperor." She explained. "Because you're cute, you get to be called Issei. Consider yourself lucky that I don't call you something like Breast Dragon Emperor."

When she finished Issei heard Ddraig laugh in his mind. The old dragon was delighted to know that his rival had such a shameful title. He held great pride in knowing that none of his host have given him a similar title. He could only imagine how he would feel if he was known as the Breast Dragon Emperor. But while Ddraig was enjoying himself, Issei was thinking of other things.

"What were you doing with the White Dragon?" He questioned, suspicious that she may be relaying his identity to his opposite.

Kuroka on the other-hand was none the wiser to his suspicions and answered casually. "He wanted me to join this group he's associated with. He thought my expertise in Senjutsu would be useful."

"Why didn't you join that group instead of coming here?" Issei asked.

Kuroka groaned. This topic was too boring for her and she was never interested in it. "The group had members of the Old Satan Faction. I knew I would be put on really stupid missions, so I chose to live here and do my own thing." While her answer was partly true, it wasn't the full story. She had another goal but she knew that it would take a while until she sees it complete. She just needed to work for it.

After the duo had finished their meal, Issei went to take a quick shower before sleeping. He made sure to tell Kuroka to stay out while in the shower. Now that she's living with him, it was the only time he had completely to himself. Yet once more, the cat had other ideas.

As talented a Senjutsu user she was, it was impossible for her to mask herself from him. Issei had immediately smelled Kuroka's scent the moment she walked in. He sighed and awaited for whatever she had in store for him. It didn't take long for him to feel two large mounds pressed on his back and a pair of arms wrapped around his chest.

"It appears that you have a problem with following directions. Simple ones at that." Issei commented.

Kuroka reached her head forward and proceeded to lay it on his shoulder. "I killed my master; you should've expected this nya." She turned him to face her and was impressed by what she saw. His build was perfect. It was every girls dream to melt in the embrace of a guy like Issei. His muscular arms wrapped around a girl, making her feel protected.

Yet there was more to his body that attracted her. Scattered across his torso and back were scars, varying of size and how deep they cut through his skin. She was able to surmise that they were from hard fought battles. Battles that had the potential to be his last but ended in his favor, and seeing how he easily overpowered her, they weren't anything to laugh at.

She saw a scar that gave her some confusion. "Where's this from nya?"

Issei saw the scar the pointed to. It was one of his oddest scars he had gained. A bite mark. "Werewolves are bitches."

She took a look at the other scars and saw another that caught her attention. Most of the scars seemed to be caused by a blade, yet there was a scar on his shoulder that was circular. It appeared that it was an older scar as it was slightly more faded than the others had, slowly healing as time went on.

"And this one?"

Issei looked to where she pointed to. When he saw the scar he instantly froze. Memories began to flow into his mind. Fragments of a life he wanted to forget.

 _'Dammit Issei why are you so worthless!'_

He began to involuntarily tremble as the memories came in. Every single detail was vivid. The torment and the pain, the suffering and the loss. Ddraig attempted to calm his host but he was far too lost in the memory.

 _"Hesitate again and I'll kill her!"_

Kuroka watched as he trembled uncontrollably. For a moment she had no idea of what to do until she came up with an idea. She enveloped herself and Issei in ki in an attempt to rip him away from whatever caused him the torment. When he was close to being free of the memories, Ddraig gave him the push he needed to finally regain his composure.

 **(He's dead boy! There is no need for you to be like this!)** Ddraig yelled.

"Dead...he's gone." Issei whispered.

 **(That's correct boy. He's gone.)**

When he came back into reality he took a look at Kuroka. She looked terrified. He thought that she was scared of him for freaking out like that but it was the opposite. She was terrified for him. Never in her life has she seen someone have a panic attack after only seeing a scar. It gave her the idea that it reminded him of something he wanted to forget. Furthermore she was also exhausted. Trying to rip him away from whatever triggered his break down took a lot out of her. He had a mental death grip to it that she was barely able to break.

After a few moments of him breathing heavily, he got up and made his way out of the shower. Before he reached the door he looked back at Kuroka. "Do us both a favor and don't bother me for the rest of the night. Sleep in the guest room." With that he left the bathroom, leaving Kuroka on the shower floor with only her thoughts.

When she finished her shower, she surprisingly did as Issei said and went to sleep in the guest room. However, no matter how hard she tried to sleep, the thought of what had happened refused to leave her. It was both an interesting and horrifying thing to witness. Because of this, her curiosity was getting the better of her. She wanted to know more.

She made her way down the hall to the door of his room. She knew that if Issei were to catch her, then there would be hell to pay. But at the same time she just couldn't help it. She creaked the door open to make sure that he was asleep. Once she heard his snore, she opened the door as minimally as she could and snuck in.

Finally inside his room, Kuroka crept around, making as little noise as she could. At a first glance it looked like the rest of the home. Normal. She had expected that at least his room would have some things he would want to keep secret. How annoying. Nevertheless, she continued her search around the room. She even search in his backpack and was genuinely surprised when she found porn magazines alongside his textbooks.

'Questions for later.' She thought to herself.

After a few more minutes looking around she saw nothing. For a moment she assumed that her entire search was for nothing. But then she had an idea. She used her senjutsu to search for anything that would be hidden away with the use of magic. To her surprise, three boxes had appeared on the nightstand beside his bed. With the assumption that she had hit the jackpot she opened the two smaller boxes.

"A doll and a ring?" She whispered to herself. She once again assumed that this search was for nothing. But she still had one box to go. Perhaps she could find something interesting there. Upon opening the box she was slightly underwhelmed by what was inside. It was a simple handgun that any person could buy at a gun store. No special look, painting nor engraving. For a moment it all seemed anti-climatic. But then she remembered something, the scar she saw on Issei. "Is this what ga-"

 **(If it was any other day you'd be dead. Be thankful that what happened in the shower drained him.)** When Ddraig spoke, Kuroka jumped but still tried her best to not yell at the dragon. The dragon noted her frustration and laughed. **(Kukuku Don't fret cat. He won't need to know about this.)**

Kuroka sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was for Issei to know about this. She looked toward his sleeping body, noting a bright light on his left hand and assumed it's where the dragon was speaking from. Now she could finally have some answers about him. "What's with him? After what happened in the shower I can tell that there's something up with him."

Ddraig stayed silent for a moment. Questioning if he should answer her question. (It's not my place to answer that. If you want that answered then you would need to ask him.)

"Easier said than done. He's so vague when I ask him anything like that."

 **(I've noticed. Ever since he was a child, he's had issues trusting people with anything personal. The only reason I know these things about him is because I can see all of his memories.)**

"How do you suggest I gain his trust then?"

 **(For a start you can stop making your advancements toward him. He and I both know that you're doing it for personal gain. Give him a reason to trust you.)  
**  
Kuroka absorbed the advice Ddraig had given her and nodded. When she saw the light on Issei's hand disappear she took it as her cue to leave. After she put away the items, back into their respective box, she made her way back to her room and closed the door.

 **(She could be good for you and you for her. You both just need a push.)**

With that Ddraig went back to sleep, hoping that he wasn't making a mistake.


End file.
